Psalm 46

“Be still, and know that I am God…”

Psalm 46:10a, New International Version

This is a very popular verse. I really like it. The thought to “be still” really speaks to my anxiety and calls me to center myself on God when my thoughts starts to whirl like a tornado. But I have found this verse is even more calming once looked at in the context of the whole Psalm. So let’s take a look at that.

Verse 1, New Living Translation: “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Look at the first two words: God is. God is this. It’s part of who he is. A refuge is someplace safe where we can hide, a place where we can feel safe. And if God is out strength, then that means he meets us in our weaknesses and boosts us up, like it says in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 talks about. So this means to me that God strengthens us when we run to him for refuge. And the second part of the verse says he’s always ready to do this for us. We can count on him.

Verse 1c-2, NLT: “…always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.” The NIV says the first part of verse 2 this way: “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way…” I live in Kansas, and we’ve been experiencing earthquakes recently. This is very strange for my area of America, and it can be frightening. But whether we are talking about literal earthquakes, or when it feels like our whole world is falling apart around us, this verse tells us that we don’t have to be afraid. God is always ready to help us. He is our refuge and strength.

Verse 3, NLT: “Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!” We can be so brave, so assured of God’s presence and help and love, that we can look the bad things in the face with nothing but courage. Let them come! Life is full of hardship; we can not avoid it. But even as the world collapses and our hearts are torn in pieces, we can remember that God is bigger than any bad thing that may come our way. Yes, we are free to grieve and wail. We are still human. We will still feel sorrow and fear. But we can still rise with courage, knowing God and his love are bigger, and will win in the end.

Verse 4a, NIV: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God…” When we accept Jesus as our Saviour, it tells us in John 4:10-14 that a spring of living water grows within our hearts, becoming a river that flows through us, and that we should allow to pour out of us into the lives of others. Without fresh water, we would all die. The same is true for our souls.

Verses 4b-5a, NLT: “…the sacred home of the Most High. God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says that we are the temple of God. In the Old Testament, the temple (and before it, the tabernacle) was the place where God lived. When Jesus died, the special curtain in the temple that separated everyone from the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence dwelt, was torn in 2 from top to bottom (Mark 15:38), signifying that Jesus’ death was enough to cover all of our sins forever and ever and ever once we accept him as our Saviour. Therefore, God’s dwelling can now be with us (1 John 4:7-18).

Verse 5b, NIV: “God will help [the city] at break of day.” God will help us. Remember, he is our safe place to run to where we can find strength, and he is always ready to help us. Let us pay attention to echoes of thoughts in Scripture.

Verse 6a, NLT: “The nations are in chaos and their kingdoms crumble!” I don’t think I need to go into detail about how chaotic everything is right now. What with COVID-19 and the political and social unrest here in America alone, I think it’s pretty clear that everything and everyone is experiencing some level of chaos. Everything around us seems to be crumbling. But remember verses 2 and 3? Even though the world is falling apart around us, we can stand in the refuge of God’s strength. He will help us get through. It is when we don’t seek God with everything we have and are that we begin to fall apart and lose our peace.

Verse 6b, NLT: “God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts!” God holds all the power. With just the power of his thoughts, with just a command, he created everything (Genesis 1). He alone holds the power. With one command, he can cause anything to stop or to happen. Psalm 22:28 NLT says God rules. It’s in present tense. In church I usually hear everyone talking about how Jesus will come to rule in the future. But he is ruling right here, right now. Who are we to question the One who invented time itself? And why do we fear when the world is in chaos? God is reigning.

Verse 7, NLT: “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God is Israel is our fortress.” God has promised to always be with us, and the Bible says that he isn’t like humans, so his word can always be trusted (Matthew 28:20b, Numbers 23:19, Deuteronomy 31:6 and 8). And not only is he our refuge, but he is our fortress, which is like a castle. It can not be conquered or toppled. Well, okay, real ones can be. But God never can. We are safe when we hide in him.

Verses 8-9, NLT: “Come, see the glorious works of the LORD: See how he brings destruction upon the world. He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire.” God only does good, even when it doesn’t seem good at the time. And even in our darkest of circumstances, he makes everything turn out for good. (See Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28, and Jeremiah 29:11.) And he is fully in charge. He is in control. He will destroy every bad thing. Wars will cease, death will be banished, sin will be erased. Everything will be made right. (See Revelation 19-22.)

Verse 10a, NLT: “‘Be still, and know that I am God!’” Only when we keep all of the rest of this Psalm in mind can we obey this command. God is in control. He is all powerful. Yet he cares about us and is eager to help us and keep us safe. We can be still.

Verse 10b, NLT: “‘I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.’” God will be honoured and, as the NIV says, exalted. Every knee will bow before him. Every tongue will confess that he is God. He is King. We can rest in his Presence. (See Isaiah 45:223-24 and Philippians 2:9-11.)

Verse 11, NIV: “The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Another echo of verses 1 and 7. Listen to the echoes. They all say that God is fully in charge, and that he is our safe place. Let us be still, and run to him.

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Exodus 14:14, NIV

(The verses used in this post were taken from the latest copyrights of the New International Version and New Living Translation, as available on January 19th, 2020, on BibleGateway. Thanks to the developers of that website for providing a handy parallel ability for the Bible…for free!)